I own nothing from NCIS and make no money from this story! If I did own them there would be some massive changes! I am simply borrowing them for a bit and returning them happier and in better condition than when I found them.
A huge thanks goes to my most excellent Beta-Amy- without whom this would not be as polished! Kudos to her for her great work and wanting to work with a nut like me! Trust me! There is much love to her! She also feeds the bunnies some massive happy food since they keep appearing.
Come by my facebook page- always a riot! Sometimes great eye candy as well! Facebook./gibbsandtonysbabe Always happy to have you drop by!
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Abby left and Gibbs sat on the floor of the basement. He could offer her nothing. He was beginning to see things in a different light or more truthfully …clearly. He tried to pinpoint a moment that the blinders covered his eyes but it seemed he had missed or ignored a lot of things. Everything played repeatedly in his mind.
There were so many things that he had done, that he never should or normally would have. Somewhere he had lost his sense of justice and on more than one occasion had become the judge and jury.
He had sent Abby on her way when she stopped to fill him in on Tony's invitation. He simply didn't have any reassurances or justifications to offer and no way to explain it to her yet.
***Flashback***
"Gibbs." Her boots clomped on the stairs as she ran down them, desperate to talk to him. "You left the yard without saying good bye. I know you have to be upset by Tony abandoning us. He's so wrong….I can't even think about this." She paced back and forth highly agitated. "Timmy has to go with Ziva now…he's so quiet…it's not like him not to talk to me. I asked him what was wrong and he wouldn't answer. He tried to go to Tony's to talk to him, but he wasn't there." She stopped to look at Gibbs. "Why is everyone so quiet? They keep looking over at Tony's desk. It's hinky. It can't be just because he left…but they're all whispering and I can't pick up on anything."
"Abs…stop. There is more to it. It's complicated."
She sighed deeply. "Fine. But it's still hinky. Tony asked me and a few others to Fornell's house, to talk to him and get answers if we wanted them." Abby continued whispering. "Why am I so scared to get those answers Gibbs? Because I am, I feel like I already know them and I don't like it. If Tony would have just stayed he could have made this right."
Gibbs shook his head. "No he couldn't, he tried. I failed Abby, not Tony. Go…go and listen to him, to everything that he has to say. Trust him."
Her eyes widened as she watched one of the strongest men she knew shrink into himself. "No…Gibbs."
He took her face in his hands and kissed her on the cheek. "Go, please."
A feeling that she had never had before settled in her gut and she knew without a doubt her world was changing and absolutely nothing she could do would stop it. She left Gibbs sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.
***End Flashback***
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With the help of a few contacts, Ziva had managed to track Bodner to the hotel they had been watching since their arrival. She finally saw him; he was within her reach.
"Tim, look! There he is."
"Thank God." Tim looked through the binoculars. "I was beginning to think that he had outsmarted us."
"No, we were both successful in our hunting. We can proceed."
"Proceed with what Ziva?" Tim looked concerned. "We were told to find, follow, and report. There is nothing to do, but wait until we have more intel and have direction."
Ziva whipped her head around and glared at Tim. "I will not wait when we have found him. He needs to pay for what he did to my father."
Tim tried to reason. "And he will. For Mrs. Vance as well. He has a lot to answer for."
Ziva waved her hand clearly showing that it was of no consequence. "I will not sit on my hands when I can deal with him, and with far more efficiency than anyone."
"Ziva, stop it. Think about this; I get you're pissed and want him to pay, but you need to remember you're a federal officer and an American citizen. You can't do this, you need to wait. We need proof."
"NO!"
"Please call it in then and let the German authorities hold him while we arrange transport back to US soil and look for evidence. We're guests in their country; don't do anything that you'll regret."
"I will regret nothing. It is my right to avenge my father. I am Mossad."
"You're not Mossad anymore Ziva. This is my life here as well. You are not the only one at risk if you decide to go all rogue again." Tim was getting pissed. Everything was starting to make sense.
"So what are you planning? You going to tell me you want to apprehend him? Because I don't believe that. You never intended on alerting Homeland or any other of the authorities. You planned to take him down and come what may. What about your partner? How do I fit in this equation Ziva?"
"Do you not want justice Tim? For the lives he took? For the families that he altered? For all the pain he has caused? How is this not justice?"
"Because you're a federal agent. What you want to do is not justice and you know the difference."
"I know what I am doing Tim and this is what Director Vance wants. We have a bond forged in loss and pain, we understand one another."
Tim gritted his teeth. "That doesn't make it right."
"Do not talk to me of right and wrong until you have had someone taken from you violently."
Tim looked at her sadly. "Trust me Ziva, I may feel the need to avenge if that did happen, but I know that I would choose not to. The right decision is not always the easy one."
"He is moving. Do you have my back or not?"
"I have your back Ziva." Tim steeled his resolve and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut as they followed Bodnar as he walked through town stopping periodically to look around and admire things.
"Ziva, what is he doing? This seems far too relaxed, I don't trust this."
"Tim, I am certain that he has not seen us and suspects nothing. He is unaware which will be his downfall. We have been using a technique that I was trained for in Mossad, we are safe."
"Excuse me for pointing it out, but is he not Mossad as well?"
"It is of no importance. I am sure that his life in politics has caused him to lose the edge that he had at one time. It is clear that he must have as we have found him."
"And you don't feel that this was all just a little too easy?" As he spoke, he felt the barrel of a gun pressed in his back."
"Ziva!"
"What McGee?" Her voice clearly irritated.
"We are not alone." She turned to see a man standing behind McGee.
"Ziva David…I would ask what you are doing here, but I believe that would be unnecessary."
"Achael. What do you want?"
McGee raised his brow. "You know him?"
Ziva nodded. "Yes, he is Mossad. Achael I do not believe there will be any need to keep the gun pointed at my partner."
"Ahhh Ziva that is where you are wrong. I need to stop you from your - shall we call it - personal mission."
"Why?" She glared at the man. "What is your reason for stopping me?"
"Simple. He did not do it."
"I do not believe you."
"No, you are unwilling to listen to reason." Bodnar stepped out of the shadows. "I tried to tell you that I, myself, am looking into the deaths and I believe I know who is responsible."
"You lie."
"Ziva, for God's sake why would I kill Eli? He was like family." Bodnar shouted.
Ziva sneered. "We are not family."
Bodnar sighed. "You must stop this and believe me. Let me show you what I have found. I need your help in proving my theory. Please, do it for your father."
Ziva's eyes narrowed. "I shall do this for my father." Reaching for one of her knives, she threw it as three shots rang out.
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Tony looked around the room, seeing the expectant look on everyone's faces. "I don't know where to begin. But if you will let me get this all out before you ask any questions, I would really appreciate it." Everyone nodded, their eyes glued on Tony.
"I was asked to go to Germany with Ziva to locate Bodnar. I declined. Ziva doesn't want to bring Bodnar in, she wants to kill him…avenge her father's murder. Vance doesn't want to rein her in for obvious reasons. Don't get me wrong I understand their grief and need for revenge, but that doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't act on it. I tried to explain myself to Gibbs; gave him all the reason I was refusing to go. Needless to say, that did not go over well. He wouldn't listen."
"I couldn't make him see what was going on. He was blinded by his own grief that is mirroring Vance's and he has always been a bit blind to Miss David. I wasn't able to tell him the rest because he demanded I go or else. I turned in my badge. I already experienced a rogue Ziva with Rivken and I sure as hell wasn't repeating that experience again." Tony took a deep breath.
"The other reason I haven't been able to voice to anyone but Tobias…I don't believe that Bodnar orchestrated this. I think he's being framed and Ziva has fallen for it hook, line and sinker just as they wanted her to. I have been doing some hunting; everything is too pat and perfect and one name keeps popping up on my radar. But more than that, I am concerned for all of you." He looked at everyone.
"If I am right and Ziva fulfills her obsession by killing Bodnar, it's going to come right back to NCIS's doorstep." Everyone gasped at the implication. "They can't ignore this and sweep it under the rug. This is going to be an international incident and", he paused, "murder. Ziva, McGee, Vance and Gibbs and a few others will all be in the line of fire. I warned Burley and Borin so they are prepared." Tony paused to breathe. "Questions?"
"Anthony, how sure are you?" Ducky asked.
"My gut may not be Gibbs, but I do trust my instincts. I did my best to stop this, short of going with her and I'm sorry, I was not going to do that."
Ducky nodded. "I understand and can empathize. You did the right thing dear boy."
Abby looked at Tony. "Timmy?"
"Depends on how far he falls in with Ziva's plan and his actions. He's already culpable for the research that they did, beyond that I can't say."
"Gibbs?" She whispered.
"Should have stepped up and stopped it. Didn't."
"Where are you?" Balboa asked.
"FBI- have my own team, or will when I choose them. I met with the Director and she's very open to my poaching. I brought you all here hopefully to bring you over. I know it's a lot to take in and you're going to have more questions. So why don't we eat and then you can ask away".
A troubled silence settled over the group.
